Sunday, 16 November 2014

Sainsburys Christmas TV ad, called 'Christmas is for sharing', has won many plaudits this year, with the grocery retailer's extended TV ad featuring a flashback to the First World War and the story of Christmas Day 1914. Made with the help of the British Legion, it is well produced and aligned with the UK's current focus on Remembrance and marking the 100 year anniversary of the Great War:

The Sainsbury's Christmas TV ad does not just live in TV ad breaks between popular shows though, there is also a wealth of content across other channels too.

This Sainsbury's website page points out that the ad is fictional but that every effort has been made to ensure details are as historically accurate as possible - there is even the original WW1 recipe for the soldier's biscuit!

2) Facebook

The Sainsbury's Facebook Page cover photo has been changed to show details from the Sainsbury's Christmas 2014 TV ad. There has then been an impressive level of commenting on and sharing of the Facebook Post that was made to announce the Sainsburys Christmas TV ad for 2014. Even if there was paid media driving this, there is still an impressive level of interaction with 173342 Likes, 13192 Comments and 67281 Shares generated in the first 4 days of the ad being live:

Sainsbury's Christmas TV ad Facebook post

3) YouTube

The official Sainsbury's YouTube channel features an extended version of the Sainsbury's Christmas TV ad for 2014 (which has had over 7 million views since launch) and the channel Masthead has also been changed accordingly.

The official Sainsbury's YouTube channel also contains additional video footage.

'Sainsbury's Christmas - the story behind the ad':

and 'Sainsbury's Christmas 2014 - The making of our Christmas ad'

4) Twitter

Twitter has been used to further extend the conversation around the Sainsbury's Christmas TV ad - with the official Sainsbury's Twitter account not only posting the YouTube link to the ad (twice), but also promoting other elements of the campaign too:

Sainsbury's Christmas TV ad Twitter posting

5) In store product

The chocolate bar featured in the Sainsburys Christmas TV ad will be on sale in Sainsbury's stores in the run up to Christmas - bringing the Christmas TV ad into store in a very tangible and obvious way. (50p per bar will be donated to the Royal British Legion to help British Armed Forces families, both past and present.)

Sainsbury's Christmas TV ad chocolate bar

There are the occasional dissenting voices (such as the Guardian who describe it as 'a dangerous and disrespectful masterpiece'), but generally the Sainsbury's Christmas TV ad seems to have been received positively and has been enhanced by the connected system of content used to promote the message across channels. The ultimate proof will come when Christmas sales figures are announced in coming months, but this campaign could well see Sainsbury's ending up as a Christmas 2014 'winner.'

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